Anthony Ervin Takes 50m Free at Arena Pro Swim Series at Charlotte

| Saturday, May 14, 2016

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Olympic gold medalist Anthony Ervin (Valencia, Calif./Unattached) raced to the men’s 50-meter freestyle title in 21.98 seconds to highlight a full slate of racing Saturday at the Arena Pro Swim Series at Charlotte.

Ervin, who began training with Charlotte-based SwimMAC Carolina three weeks ago, surged down the stretch to take the win ahead of Canada’s Santo Condorelli, who was second in 22.15, and Josh Schneider (Cincinnati, Ohio/New York Athletic Club), who grabbed third in 22.16.

“We’ve been doing a lot of technique work the last few weeks. Technique work with the training, as well as trying to get that start down … I think it’s been paying off,” Ervin said. “I not only hopeful, I’m enthusiastic about the next few weeks.”

A quartet of USA Swimming National Team members picked up their second victories of the meet, paced by Olympic gold medalist Conor Dwyer (Winnetka, Ill./Trojan Swim Club), who led wire-to-wire to take the men’s 400m free in 3:47.37 for victory No. 2 after winning the 200m free on Friday.

Leah Smith (Pittsburgh, Pa./Cavalier Swimming) completed the same double, winning the women’s 400m free in a meet and pool record 4:05.21. After winning the 400m IM on Friday, Olympian Cammile Adams (Cypress, Texas/SwimMAC Carolina) cruised to her second win of the meet, taking the 200m fly in 2:08.14. Cody Miller (Reno, Nev./Badger Swim Club) completed a sweep of the men’s breaststroke events, winning the 200m breast in 2:12.22.

Held at the newly renovated Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center, the long-course meters meet concludes Sunday with daily prelims at 9 a.m. EDT and finals at 6 p.m. EDT.

Other winners Saturday included:

· Dana Vollmer (Granbury, Texas/California Aquatics) in the women’s 50m fly in 25.87
· Annie Lazor (Beverly Hills, Mich./Auburn University) in the women’s 200m breast in 2:24.96
· Jonathan Gomez of Colombia in the men’s 200m fly in 1:57.36
· Chantal Van Landeghem of Canada in the women’s 50m free in 24.43
· Kylie Masse of Canada in the women’s 100m back in 59.98
· Arkady Vyatchanin in the men’s 100m back in 54.80
· Condorelli in the men’s 50m fly in 23.82

Television coverage of May 14-15 finals from Charlotte will air on NBC Sports Network on delay, while NBC Sports Live Extra will stream May 14-15 finals live. A live webcast of the entire meet also will be available at usaswimming.org.

The Arena Pro Swim Series at Charlotte is the fifth of seven stops of the 2015-16 Arena Pro Swim Series. As part of USA Swimming’s partnership with swimwear leader Arena, the circuit will feature a record $350,000 in overall prize money. Swimmers may earn awards for all individual Olympic events across the series. At each meet, $1,000 will be provided for the top-three finishes finish, $600 for second and $200 for third. In addition to the single-event prize money, the overall male and female winners of the season-long Series will earn a $10,000 bonus.

For the third consecutive season, longtime USA Swimming partner BMW will award the grand prize of a one-year lease of a BMW vehicle to the highest-scoring eligible male and female U.S. swimmers.

Male and female overall Arena Pro Swim Series champions will be honored at the conclusion of the 2015-16 series based on the number of points accumulated throughout the seven meets. Participants will be awarded points in each individual Olympic event throughout the duration of the Series (Five points for first, three for second, one point for third place).